Roberto Mancini defends Manchester City's zonal marking

Roberto Mancini has suggested his Manchester City players are not up to man-to-man marking at set pieces.

City have conceded an alarming number of goals in such a manner this season, and did so again against Tottenham on Sunday before fighting back to claim a 2-1 win.

Some of the blame has been pinned on the zonal marking system which details players to take charge of areas, rather than players, but Mancini said: "We are not strong enough to mark man-to-man, and every time we do there is a risk of conceding a penalty. If we work, we can improve the system. We have let in goals because of it, but we can change that. We are working on it, but we need to work more."